Okay, The Demon sat in my garage for almost a week without moving. Decided to take it out Saturday night and go around the block as I do not have plates (classis car) yet. After about ten minutes I noticed it started to almost stall a few times, especially at stop signs. So I adjusted the choke and it still felt like stallling. Made my way back towards home and then realized that the seller only put a few drops of fuel in her. Put it in the garage and today took it down to the local gas station to fill it. Swapped my plate off my Durango (illegal, maybe a bit) and then realized as I ws filling that it did not have a safety stop overflow as newer cars have. Gas poured out near the exhaust, which was not hot, and I let it sit for a minute before going back home. Half a mile away it stalled and I was left in the middle of the road. Would start up fine, but once in drive it would die. Finally, I revved the engine in park and power slammed it into drive and it went. Still it wanted stall the next mile or so til I pulled into the garage. Now I had to take it out into my driveway as fuel was dripping into my garage and slowly asphyaxiating me, my wife , and two daughters. I noticed that the garage floor had gas and a dark liquid below where the rear axle would be close to the gas tank. The gas did not bother me too much as it was probaly releasing excess, but it appeared to be oil in the mix. Also, below where the engine sat was a bluish liquid. I think I killed the 340.....
FF

 

i dont hear anything that should have killed it.

with the demon, the gas comes up the filler neck SUPER quick. i fill it with my head against the quarter panel and listen for the fuel coming...i also carry a towel in the truck and detail spray to clean off gas...but anyways...

so, you can start the car, and it will sit in park and idle without any issue, but when you put it in drive it wants to stall? does it do the same thing in reverse? is it trying to stall when youre cruising along, or just when youre stopped/going very slowly? it almost sounds to me like something is awry with the transmission, and when you put it into gear its dragging the engine down to the point of stalling..sort of like driving a manual trans and letting the clutch out without giving it any gas.

did you check your oil? how does it look? how about the coolant? ive driven my 340 in the mirada to hell and back...ive broken rocker arms on the line and still finished a track pass. i dont think that you did anything that should have killed it...especially if it will idle in park. if the oil and coolant look ok, id pull some spark plugs and see how they look.

 

I had it towed to the local mechanic this morning. I looked under the car last night and it has a leak in the gas tank that is lined with a black material (undercoat). Put a bucket under it to stop from damaging my driveway and opened a few beers. It seems to shift really HARD out of park. I had bad motor mounts on an old Oldmobile that would put me threw the windshield when I put in into drive and the Demon does the same. I already had motor mounts being shipped along with exhaust and headers. I think the fuel filter is clogged as it will stall once out of park, but not in park.....strange. Well, I will update once the mechanic takes one or two of my appendages,
FF

 

Tried putting new wheels and tires on it tonight, but could not get the lug nuts to move. I bought Cragar wheels and the lugs are right hand AND left hand. I do not know if they still did this in 1971 or not. I know it was so that the lug nuts would not loosen before the advent of a taped seat. How can I tell if I have taped or right hand left hand posts...........?
FF

 

Left hand threads were standard on the 71 demon, if no one has changed them yet, I suggest doing it now. The stalling might just be a carb adjustment issue, are you running a TQ? they are near impossible to properly tune.

 

* TQ- thermoquad

Sounds like the torque converter might be bad, not allowing the engine to free spin at low rpm's. I had one do this in an old Duster, it acted the same way.

 

The mechanic siad that it did not have a choke on the engine. Someone installed a hand choke under the dash...I thought it was for the damn lights. Time to remove the hand one a replace the standard choke next week. Not sure if it has a TQ as I have no idea what it is. I googled the part and it looks like it would be part of the carb, but I would say that it does not have a TQ. Now back to the left hand right hand lugs. If I wanted to change the drivers side wheels , would I turn the wrench counter-clockwise? Clockwise on the passenger side? Man, I always hated the lefty loosey crap....clockwise is clockwise the world around until the digital age firmly takes place. Thanks for all the help and maybe I can drive around in some nice wheels and tires tonight,
FF

 

Posts were all standard right hand (counterclock to loosen)...great now I have to retun two sets of left hand and get two sets of right hand lugs. I did put the rear wheels on though after using my body and the garage ceiling for leverage (did not have a pipe). Next I will install the headers and exhaust with the help from a friend. Thanks for reading about my new hobby,
FF

 

Look at the end of the lug stud, it will be cast with either a "L" or "R" on it to designate left or right threads.

 

They are all standard posts. Someone must have changed them through the years. I am waiting to see why the transmission is leaking and if it needs to be rebuit. I was hoping to put the exhaust on this weekend, but it is sitting in the shop still. The front end suspension should be here this week and now I have no room in my garage for my Durango. Maybe I can persuade my wife to park her Trailblazer in the driveway?
FF